About Hollowed Out Lead Filled 100 Ounce Silver Bars (Type II)

Here, we discuss one of the two types of lead-filled silver bars, the hollowed-out version (as opposed to the original 3 drilled holes version). We were able to obtain hundreds of page of information from the FBI, some of which was very useful. This page is designed to provide information to help detect the bars, and to understand more about the operation that created them.

NOTE: We are actively seeking one of each type of lead-filled silver bar to run tests on, but have been unable to do so. Please
if you have one you would sell us or let us borrow. Thank you!

TREST MISPEL

How to Make a Hollowed Out Lead Filled Silver Bar

First, this is not intended to be a real 'how-to' guide. The people behind this scheme likely lost money on the venture, and one of them was sent to jail (due to this and a different crime). And, we're leaving out a few of the details -- feel free to contact the FBI if you want more information! Knowing how they were made should make them easier to detect. And the details are very different than what we assumed before we got the FBI information (for example, we didn't know that both ends were cut off, or that molten lead was used).

Step 1: Buy real silver bars

The people behind the hollowed-out silver bars bought real 100 ounce Engelhard silver bars (from dealers in New York, Connecticut, and elsewhere). It is important to buy unadulterated bars; if they are already lead-filled, it defeats the purpose.

Step 2: Cut off the ends

The first step, after buying the real bars, was to cut off both ends (the 'top' and 'bottom', more accurately described as the left and right ends if the bar is on a flat surface with the Engelhard logo facing you).

Step 3: Drill 4 holes

In this step, you drill 4 holes, all the way through the bar. They start at either the left or right side (if the bar is facing with the logo side facing you), and go all the way through the bar. The holes are made in each of the 4 corners.

Step 4: Saw between the 4 holes

Once you have drilled the 4 holes, you use a saw to cut out the silver in the middle of the bar. At this point, you have a small rectangular piece of silver weighing about 60 ounces, and the shell of the original bar (which you can now see through from one end to the other).

Step 5: Drill a fill hole

Now, you need to drill a 'fill hole', which you will later use to insert the molten lead. It is drilled into 'one side of the bar', presumably either the front side or the back side (since the ends were cut off, and the front and back of the bar would be more likely to be closely inspected).

Step 6: Put new ends on the bars

At this point, you need to put ends back on the bars. Rather than use the ends that were cut off, you are going to use silver plates custom-made for this purpose. It is unclear why silver plates are needed, rather than the original ends that were cut off. It is also not clear how they were attached (it appears to have been with a special solder, using a tungsten alloy to increase the melting point, to prevent the molten lead from melting the solder).

Step 7: Fill the bar with lead

You now have a bar that appears fairly normal -- except that it has a fill hole, and it is visually obvious that the ends were re-affixed. And it only weighs about 30 ounces or so, not 100. So you pressure fill it with molten lead, using a machine custom made for the purpose.

Step 8: Insert a silver plug

At this point, you have one blatant problem with the bar: there's a fill hole visible, and you can see the lead inside the bar. So you now insert a silver plug into the hole. Although the term 'silver plug' was used, it was more likely that molten silver was used. Otherwise, the hole would be much more noticeable.

Step 9: Finish the bar

You now have a bar that appears normal, except that it is (intentionally) slightly overweight, and there are marks where you added the ends on and the plug. So you need to finish the bar, by smoothing out the areas where the bar had been cut or drilled, and keep working at it until the weight is exact.

Step 10: Sell it all

Now, you sell the bar, as well as the silver that you took out of it.

Cost Information

We estimate the startup costs were over $30,000, plus monthly expenses of $400 for equipment rental.

Detection

Are these easy to detect? It depends who at the FBI you ask!

The only information we saw from the details of the case was that when they obtained 10 bars from a customer, "Visual inspection of these bars indicated a probability that at least four (4) bars may have been altered." That implies that by looking at them (perhaps knowing what to look for, perhaps not) it is possible to distinguish them from real bars.

From careful analysis of the documents we obtained, it appears that the 10 bars were received on 11/18/1993, and the visual inspection was done at the location of the bars before taking them as evidence. This was before bars were sent to the Naval Ship Yard for nondestructive testing, but presumably after the sawing and testing of the original bars. So at that point, the agents may have known what to look for. Interestingly, after we identified the batch of bars and cross-referenced them to the results of testing, we found out that 7 of the 10 bars were lead-filled. So it appears that the agents were able to positively identify 4 as being suspect, but it was unclear whether 3 others were real or not.

However, we also have information from an FBI Special Agent that visual inspection by Engelhard of Carteret, New Jersey and inspection and weighing by the U.S. Mint provided no indication of adulteration. Oddly, that information did not appear in the case materials that the FBI sent. So it could have just been a receptionist that looked at the bars, and said "Yes, those are the kind we make." Or, it may be that experts there examined the lead-filled bars, and couldn't tell them from real ones. We don't know.

Original Plan

According to notes from interviews with parties close to this crime, the original plan was to use the bars as collateral to buy real estate, and then melt them down afterwards. This is suspect, however, given that you would need the money to buy the real bars in the first place (of course, it could be done in batches, but you would still need 30% or so of the value of the silver bars).

How Many Lead Filled Bars Were Sold?

About 150-200, according to the FBI documents. However, it is possible that the number could be a fair bit higher than that (perhaps as many as 600 or so, from our analysis of the lead purchases -- more if they bought more lead that the FBI was unaware of).

When and Where Did This Occur?

The idea started in 1981-1982, with the idea revived in 1985. In August-September, 1985 they devised the plan, and started buying equipment. They first started selling the bars in late 1985 or sometime in 1986. They were sold through the Channel Trading Company in Langhorne, PA, to their customers as well as to some dealers. It appears that customers typically got a mix of lead-filled and real silver bars.

When and Why Did it End?

It appears that they stopped making the bars sometime in early 1989, when the FBI started investigating them for a separate crime.

How Many Could They Have Sold?

According to the documents, they were planning on selling thousands of them.